New This Week: 3 Bold Moves for Your Dining Room
Look to special pieces, striking color and upbeat patterns to wow guests at your next holiday celebration
Thanksgiving celebrations are a good time to evaluate formal dining rooms. You can get a sense of how they function and what they’re missing. The latter oftentimes can come down to one simple design move that has big impact. Here, three designers share how they stepped up their clients’ dining room game with special furnishings, bold colors and energetic patterns.
2. Bold Wall Color
Designer: Katherine Hodge of Sage Design
Location: Darien, Connecticut
Size: 432 square feet (about 40 square meters), 18 by 24 feet (5.4 by 7.3 meters)
Year built: 1932
Homeowners’ request: A whimsical, happy space for spending time with family and friends.
Special feature: Designer Katherine Hodge chose a bold turquoise (Seaside Blue by Benjamin Moore) for her color-loving clients. The homeowners use the room mostly at night, and the watery hue helps the room glow.
Plan of attack: The solid color scheme allows contrast between the classic inky black lacquer table, light-colored chairs and custom rug.
What wasn’t working: The fireplace had a dingy brass screen and white brick. Hodge removed the screen and painted the fireplace black to complement the black lacquer table.
What goes on here: Long family dinners with several generations around the table. The dining room is visible from many other rooms in the home. “I think it provides a feeling of lightness and happy memories,” Hodge says.
Designer secret: “I loved painting the trim and the walls the same color so it all blends together,” Hodge says.
Splurges and savings: “The wall color is a way to have huge impact for very little money,” she says.
The nitty-gritty: Window treatment: Quadrille; window hardware: Lundy’s; rug: custom, Palace Rugs of Wilton; chairs: custom, Sage Design; sconces: the Urban Electric Co.; dining table: Baker; dining chairs: Astele Furniture; side table, tray and artwork: Sage Design; flowers: Diane James
Team: Fox Hill Builders; Willie Cole Photo
Designer: Katherine Hodge of Sage Design
Location: Darien, Connecticut
Size: 432 square feet (about 40 square meters), 18 by 24 feet (5.4 by 7.3 meters)
Year built: 1932
Homeowners’ request: A whimsical, happy space for spending time with family and friends.
Special feature: Designer Katherine Hodge chose a bold turquoise (Seaside Blue by Benjamin Moore) for her color-loving clients. The homeowners use the room mostly at night, and the watery hue helps the room glow.
Plan of attack: The solid color scheme allows contrast between the classic inky black lacquer table, light-colored chairs and custom rug.
What wasn’t working: The fireplace had a dingy brass screen and white brick. Hodge removed the screen and painted the fireplace black to complement the black lacquer table.
What goes on here: Long family dinners with several generations around the table. The dining room is visible from many other rooms in the home. “I think it provides a feeling of lightness and happy memories,” Hodge says.
Designer secret: “I loved painting the trim and the walls the same color so it all blends together,” Hodge says.
Splurges and savings: “The wall color is a way to have huge impact for very little money,” she says.
The nitty-gritty: Window treatment: Quadrille; window hardware: Lundy’s; rug: custom, Palace Rugs of Wilton; chairs: custom, Sage Design; sconces: the Urban Electric Co.; dining table: Baker; dining chairs: Astele Furniture; side table, tray and artwork: Sage Design; flowers: Diane James
Team: Fox Hill Builders; Willie Cole Photo
3. Upbeat Rug
Designers: Jennifer Wundrow and Heather Brock of Nest Design Co.
Location: Hillsborough, California
Year built: 1967, remodeled in 2014
Homeowners’ request: A formal dining room that’s young, fresh and approachable.
Special feature: A multicolored flat-weave rug made of wool, silk and jute. The rug, which measures 9 by 12 feet, was purchased at Floordesign in San Francisco. “We love the uniqueness and extra pop this rug gives the room,” designer Jennifer Wundrow says. “It is the showpiece, and that’s what we wanted.”
Plan of attack: The rug was originally in the living room of the homeowners’ previous house. When it didn’t fit into their new living room, they tried it in the dining room, where it fit perfectly. The design of the room then went from there. Wundrow and designer Heather Brock brought in a traditional table and chairs to mix with the more contemporary rug.
What wasn’t working: The homeowners tried using their original round dining table and hutch, but the pieces weren’t right for the narrow room.
What goes on here: This is a formal dining room used for holidays and entertaining.
Designer secret: “By keeping the rest of the room neutral, we let the rug do most of the talking,” Wundrow says.
“Uh-oh” moment: The homeowners had a very specific table in mind for the room, but one from an antique dealer would have been too expensive. Luckily, Wundrow found this table at a neighbor’s garage sale.
The nitty-gritty: Rug: Floordesign; chairs: Charlotte & Ivy; mirror: Nest Design; sconces: Visual Comfort
More: How to Design Your Ideal Dining Room
Designers: Jennifer Wundrow and Heather Brock of Nest Design Co.
Location: Hillsborough, California
Year built: 1967, remodeled in 2014
Homeowners’ request: A formal dining room that’s young, fresh and approachable.
Special feature: A multicolored flat-weave rug made of wool, silk and jute. The rug, which measures 9 by 12 feet, was purchased at Floordesign in San Francisco. “We love the uniqueness and extra pop this rug gives the room,” designer Jennifer Wundrow says. “It is the showpiece, and that’s what we wanted.”
Plan of attack: The rug was originally in the living room of the homeowners’ previous house. When it didn’t fit into their new living room, they tried it in the dining room, where it fit perfectly. The design of the room then went from there. Wundrow and designer Heather Brock brought in a traditional table and chairs to mix with the more contemporary rug.
What wasn’t working: The homeowners tried using their original round dining table and hutch, but the pieces weren’t right for the narrow room.
What goes on here: This is a formal dining room used for holidays and entertaining.
Designer secret: “By keeping the rest of the room neutral, we let the rug do most of the talking,” Wundrow says.
“Uh-oh” moment: The homeowners had a very specific table in mind for the room, but one from an antique dealer would have been too expensive. Luckily, Wundrow found this table at a neighbor’s garage sale.
The nitty-gritty: Rug: Floordesign; chairs: Charlotte & Ivy; mirror: Nest Design; sconces: Visual Comfort
More: How to Design Your Ideal Dining Room
Designer: Sharon K. Wesson of Design Anthologie
Location: Orlando, Florida
Size: 280 square feet (26 square meters), 14 by 20 feet (4.2 by 6 meters)
Year built: 2014
Homeowners’ request: A very warm, welcoming and practical dining room.
Special features: “The whole premise of the house was to feel like this was a family home handed down through the generations, worn and weathered, and we wanted the furniture to reflect collected pieces from the ‘family,’” designer Sharon Wesson says.
She chose a salvaged-wood table in a natural finish from Restoration Hardware, making sure the size was large enough to accommodate the homeowners, their four children and friends who could arrive for dinner at a moment’s notice. An eclectic mix of chairs — Windsor, French bistro, rustic farmhouse — surrounds the table. Fold-up chairs near the serving cabinet provide extra seating in a pinch.
Plan of attack: The dining area needed to be relaxing, fun and able to accommodate as many people as possible. Wesson planned the layout and furniture sizes first, then chose the cabinets, ceiling detail and paint.
What goes on here: Everyday meals, family gatherings and parties, usually during college football season.
Who uses it: The homeowners are in their early 50s with four children: a junior in high school, two in college and one newly married.
Designer secret: Special pieces make the room — the chandelier; the serving cabinet for placemats, napkins and oversized trays and platters; and the three-part candy holder atop the cabinet.
“Uh-oh” moment: “The way the chandelier was shown in the showroom was not the same application in the home,” Wesson says. “So we brainstormed and came up with the idea of using jute rope to secure and stabilize the chandelier — which was perfect because the family members are big boaters.”
Splurges and savings: Wesson and the homeowners splurged on the large, important pieces and saved on the chairs, some of which came from Restoration Hardware. “Had we done 10 upholstered chairs, that would have been a big-ticket item,” she says.
The nitty-gritty: Floors: solid walnut with tung-oil finish; wall paint: Nantucket Dune, Sherwin-Williams; trim paint: Alabaster, Sherwin-Williams
Team: David Runnels (architect); Wyatt Anderson Construction; David Konkol (consultant); Diane Mulligan of Busby Cabinets (cabinetmaker); Rebecca Read (photographer)